What is it?

An insurance-friendly 1.4-litre version of the Seat Leon FR clearly aimed at younger drivers. With only 123bhp from its 1.4-litre engine, performance is lukewarm rather than hot. But this FR gets the same styling and handling tweaks as its more powerful siblings, while keeping insurance down to group 16 on the new 50-group scale. 

Technical highlights?

Um, we’ll get back to you on that one. The turbocharged petrol engine is the familiar from elsewhere in the VW group, where it comes with a variety of different power outputs. The Leon gets the least powerful of these - at least the modest 123bhp is augmented by a healthier 148lb ft of torque, with this peak available from just 1500rpm.

What’s it like to drive?

Providing you’re not expecting much in the way of performance, the 1.4 FR is a decent steer. Behind the firm springing the chassis lacks much in the way of damping control, and you don’t need to be trying too hard to find the limits of the front tyres. But behind over-light assistance the steering is accurate and responses are reasonably keen. It’s definitely better to drive than the basic Leon.

The engine does a decent job disguising its lack of horses in everyday use, thanks to that flat, fat torque curve. But if you want to press on you’ll quickly be left wanting more, with the engine running out of any kind of enthusiasm to rev at around the 5000rpm mark. The official 0-62mph time of 9.8 seconds tells the story – there are few diesel repmobiles that couldn’t beat the Leon in a straight line.

On the plus side, the cabin is a comfortable place to spend time, the FR cruises reasonably well and there are plenty of toys to enliven the inevitably slow journeys.

How does it compare?

There aren’t many other cars in this segment that offer the combination of a boggo engine with sporty trim, so the FR 1.4 pretty much has the field to itself. On the plus side, it comprehensively outguns the utterly feeble 98bhp Vauxhall Astra 1.4 SRI.

Anything else I need to know?

We couldn’t get anywhere near the official 45.6mpg combined fuel economy, with the Leon returning 35mpg under gentle use and 31/32mpg when pushed.